Nerd

Why Nostalgia Could End With the '90s

Dev Allen is taking a look at the current ‘90s revival, and whether it will be the last retro craze we ever see.

Nostalgia is all the rage these days, and former ‘90s kids all over the world are embracing the movies, cartoons, shows and music they grew up on. But even if you’re a die-hard ‘90s kid obsessed with things only ‘90s kids will remember, you’re just taking part in the newest version of the classic nostalgic cycle. Then and now, pop culture has always been obsessed with throwbacks to retro classics, renewing interest in what was popular back in the day. In the ‘70s and ‘80s, we were obsessed with the ‘50s and ‘60s. In the ‘90s, we fixated on the ‘70s, and in the 2000s, we all said I love the ‘80s with a fresh revival of the era’s cartoons shows, on top of tributes like “Stranger Things,” “It,” and “Freaks and Geeks.”

Now that the ‘90s kids are all grown up, they’re ready for a revival of the best ‘90s cartoons and ‘90s culture they remember watching on Nickelodeon when they were younger. Nicktoons like “Doug,” “Rugrats,” “Rocko’s Modern Life,” “Hey Arnold,” and “Spongebob” defined us growing up, and now they’re defining the new content we consume, especially with the recently announced Nicksplat streaming service on VRV. But beyond Nick, Snick, or whatever you watched as a kid, the ‘90s might be the last gasp of the dying monoculture. After the 1990s, the internet allowed us to form our our pop culture bubbles, and we might never see such a unified obsession with a single moment in time. However, until that happens, we’ll be all over the ‘90s nostalgia revival until the next big thing comes along.

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